


taste the sunshine on my lips

by izumidos



Series: Romance for Dummies [3]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Day At The Beach, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, YES THEY FINALLY HAVE THEIR KISS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 22:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izumidos/pseuds/izumidos
Summary: In the midst of a Los Santos heatwave with broken air conditioning, there's really no other plan that matches up going to the beach. And who knows what else may come of it.





	taste the sunshine on my lips

**Author's Note:**

> y'all think you got the last of me?? not at all, i'm still kicking and a sucker for freewood!! i hope you guys like this third installment though, your comments have been so nice on my other two works :')!
> 
> even tho i forget to reply, i read them all (multiple times) and they make me really happy!! i'll try to respond to all comments today or tomorrow, when i post this!!
> 
> now i hope you enjoy these two nerds being in love <3

Summer in Los Santos is a dry, heated thing that crashes over the whole city. Ryan hears Gavin whining as he drapes himself over the sill of the open window of his apartment — there’s still no wind passing by to ease the heat.

 

“This is absolute rubbish, Ryan! Of all the days for it to be sucky...” Gavin turns to face Ryan with a groaned sigh as his hand acts as the world’s worst fan. More sweat garners the longer he fakes the fanning, so he gives in after a moment and takes to tugging at his shirt instead. He grimaces, “I’m all yucky and gross.”

 

Ryan tosses a glance back, feeling his own shirt cling to the sweat-soaked skin of his back. It is disgusting and unfortunate. He matches Gavin’s expression as he stares at the broken thermostat that mocks them with its lie of 70 degrees fahrenheit; it’s not supposed to make them sweat this badly, is it? Either way, Ryan’s sure he can’t commit a crime as bad as the air conditioning breaking during a heat wave.

 

He gnaws at his lower lip, trying to ignore the rising temperature of the room or the daze his mind is falling into. The background noise of soft, Gavin whining isn’t helping either. He’s scrambling for a solution, a quick one to get them both of this godforsaken heat and not spend their day together unhappy.

 

So without thinking, he blurts out the first, sensible idea he can voice: “Let’s go to the beach.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Ryan’s face turns pink at Gavin’s confusion, all fanning motions paused, and Ryan shrugs lamely; he can already feel himself wanting to melt into the floor at the stupid suggestion of his. Even more than the temperature already is. “It’s hot inside with a broken air conditioner, so we shouldn’t stay here. We could go into a different building, but they might yell at us for loitering.” He tries to explain.

 

“Christ, let’s not risk that then. Managers here are terrifying,” Gavin agrees with a wince. Old, suppressed memories bubble up and instill a familiar fear in him for a moment. Ryan sympathizes.

 

“So, no indoors stuff unless we actually stay there for a reason. But because it’s a weekday anyway, since we aren’t exactly… people with normal working hours, let’s go to the beach. We can enjoy how empty it is for once.” A pause. “Plus beaches are fun, if you can swim.”

 

Ryan aims a quirked brow towards Gavin, but he says nothing more. And it takes a second for Gavin to recognize the unsaid question, yet Ryan can see the moment it all clicks into place. From a confused tilt of his head to the wide-eyed realization to a glare accompanied by a pouting intention.

 

“What was that tone supposed to be, Ry? You know you didn’t have to say it like that!”

 

“I mean, just to be safe here, but… Hey, hold on, why are you fronting on me? Gav? Gavin, no–!”

 

A burst of noise escapes Ryan as he blocks against the tickling assault from Gavin, a broad hand easily gripping two, thin wrists. He grunts when Gavin twists around in his grip, but he keeps it locked around as he brings his free arm to wrap around Gavin and barely budges when Gavin keeps squirming in his grip. And for as much as Ryan hates using his size difference against Gavin, he can’t deny the satisfaction at keeping Gavin on lockdown so easily.

 

“Y’know,” Ryan starts, no sign of exhaustion present, “I don’t think the issue is how I said it since I didn’t really say anything, if we’re being technical here.”

 

Ryan feels more than hear the puff of exasperation from Gavin, and he tightens his hold on the smaller man. More squirming and writhing until Ryan finally feels Gavin get tired from the unexpected tussle.

 

Despite the earlier rumble, Ryan watches how Gavin eventually snuggles closer into the tight hold and burrows into the crook of Ryan’s neck; strands of messy, blonde hair tickle his collarbone, and soft lips graze his skin to leave butterfly trails. Ryan huffs out a laugh at the sensation before Gavin pinches him lightly in retribution. It hurts not at all compared to the litany of scars his body boasts, but it twists his stomach in a familiar, aching way.

 

“Glad you know I’m right then.” Ryan grins as he finally lets go of Gavin’s wrist, hand sliding down to settle on Gavin’s waist with the other. He tries to ignore how his heart flutters at how Gavin’s arms wrap around his neck without hesitation. Hides it by kissing the top of a blonde head gently. “You didn’t respond though, about going to the beach. Yay or nay, bud?”

 

“You sound like a middle-aged dad saying that,” Gavin grumbles. A single eye peeks out from his hiding place, green and bright. “But a day at the beach...doesn’t sound too bad. This could be one of our dates, yeah?”

 

Ryan rolls his eyes, pretending that his heartbeat isn’t skyrocketing out of his chest. How Gavin goes with it easily, even makes it better by calling it a date without hesitation. Even months of being boyfriends, of going on dates that never get boring, Ryan still feels the same, nervous fluttering of excitement from the first time.

 

He doesn’t think he’ll ever get over the feeling – he hopes he never does.

 

“Yeah,” Ryan replies finally. His voice is dry, a little scratchy, and he shakes his head at Gavin’s concerned expression. “Don’t worry, just my voice being shitty. But yeah. Let’s head to the beach.”

 

//

 

“I feel like this is forbidden, being at the beach when there’s no one here,” Gavin comments with a shudder. “Something is off here without all the people hoarding every piece of sand.”

 

Ryan glances over the span of the beach he can see behind his sunglasses, seeing an entire expanse of sand for once. The closest group of people he can see is far away, and he’s sure there’s less than 10 people there. Plus there’s no ugly towels or obnoxious umbrellas littering the floor, no people to have to constantly apologize to while stepping over them. No worries about trash being left behind by assholes.

 

So, as weird as it is and as much as Ryan agrees at the feeling Gavin points out, he doesn’t hate it. This is way better than a normal day at the beach, usually overly crowded with annoying pests of people.

 

“Eh, could be worse. C’mon, let’s go grab a spot before some nasty family snatches it from us,” Ryan jokes, nudging Gavin’s shoulder. It earns him a disgruntled look, but he pays it no mind – he cheerfully ambles toward a spot close enough to the waves without getting soaked by them. “See? Look at that, we have one of the best seats in the house!”

 

His smile is blinding even as Gavin slinks up to him slowly with an fond sigh at his joke. With a hum, he drops the two towels he had been lugging around to roll it out before gesturing towards his boyfriend. He watches Gavin drop a small cooler they had scrounge up at Ryan’s home, along with a small bag filled with Gavin’s personal stuff and some of Ryan’s that he managed to cram in there.

 

“This isn’t too bad, yeah?” Ryan turns to level a hopeful look towards Gavin as if an invisible tail is wagging behind him. A small smile is still playing on his lip, waiting for praise at what a brilliant outing this is already turning out to be.

 

Gavin quirks a brow, but he can’t stifle the smile that threatens to creep up on his own face. He rises on his tip toes, hands cupping Ryan’s cheeks, to pepper kisses across Ryan’s nose and cheeks. Gavin swears if he looks a little harder, he can see said tail thumping even more excitedly as Ryan’s face explodes with joy.

 

“It’s great, lovely Ryan,” Gavin compliments, placing one last kiss on the tip of Ryan’s nose. “Now, hurry up. We went to the beach to cool off, not stand around and get sweaty!”

 

Ryan huffs as Gavin pulls away, hands lamely reaching out for the other. He watches how Gavin darts away from his space with a cheeky smirk, hands already tugging off his shirt and the loosest pair of jeans he could find earlier. Ryan wants so badly to take Gavin’s hands for himself and hold it for however long he can, original plan be damned. Sweat is a small price to pay for hand holding.

 

But then Gavin’s left in just his swim trunks, hidden under his pants, rest of his body out for the world to see, and just – oh. Ryan can’t help admire Gavin; the tanned skin that looks bright at home under the sun, the trail of heavy patches of hair that run down his chest to his trunks, and the small stature that Ryan knows holds more intensity than some of his old contacts.

 

Distantly, he processes the prideful look that streaks itself across Gavin’s face, but he can’t be assed to mention it right now. He’s busy short circuiting at the sight of Gavin, his hands twitching with the need to hold his boyfriend close. He wants to touch, to hold– to just do anything that Gavin would let him do.

 

It’s too crude to say he’s drooling, but well. He is.

 

“Rybread, you’re starin’,” Gavin giggles, crowding into Ryan’s space again. Ryan feels the gentle weight that rests on his chest as Gavin’s hands settles there, eyes gleaming with fondness, and his heart races into overtime at the other’s affection. He’s overwhelmed with it all as Gavin pushes and pushes up against him, trying to take it all in stride. “Didn’t your folks ever teach you that starin’ is bad?”

 

“I, uh, huh? Wh…” Ryan barely manages to say, voice tight and just short of squeaky. He blinks down at Gavin, looking lost almost. “Sorry, Gav, I just got...distracted? Uh…”

 

An awful excuse. One that Ryan can tell doesn’t make it past Gavin, considering the quirked brow and the smug grin playing on pink lips. He opens his mouth to come up with a new explanation, only to be cut off by Gavin.

 

“Y’know, ‘s mean of you to not pay attention to your own boyfriend, Ry.” Gavin pouts as he leans his head against Ryan’s chest, looking up with big, doe eyes. It’s naive-looking, those overly innocent eyes.

 

It’s enough for Ryan to snap out of his haze, stare narrowing; Gavin only pulls out that look when it’s two very specific situations. One is when he’s trying to get away with something, and he thinks he can win Ryan’s forgiveness early. The other is when Gavin is up to something that Ryan may or may not forgive, and shit–

 

It’s too late when Ryan realizes he could suddenly feel a cold wetness slosh at his feet. His eyes widen, body jerking at the water and arms flailing; he opens his mouth to scold Gavin only for his breath to be cut short, a pair of hands shoving him away with more force than expected–

 

“Gavin!”

 

Ryan shudders as he hits the water, chilling to the bone and weighing him down with all his soaked clothes. He glares at the blurry sight of Gavin squeaking in laughter over the water, and he launches himself out of the ocean to sit up with a frown. He’s fucking drenched in freezing saltwater. Loudly, Gavin’s amusement rings in his ears – or maybe that was the water rushing in?

 

Either way, he isn’t standing for this. Not at all.

 

With a scowl, Ryan’s hands darts outs to reach Gavin’s hips. He ignores the bloodcurdling scream that follows as he yanks his boyfriend down, screeching all the way down with a loud, full-bodied splash that soaks Ryan even more.

 

“W-What the– Ryan! You absolute prick, Ryan!”

 

Gavin splutters through the ocean water dripping all over him, spitting at the salty taste. He shoves at Ryan’s chest – no heat or force like before – with a quiet whine, lips framed into a perfect textbook pout that usually had Ryan giving in. Would’ve been far more effective if Gavin didn’t look like a drowned cat sentenced to another bath.

 

“You deserved that, and you know it. Don’t try to pout your way out of this one, bastard!”

 

“Ryan!”

 

Ryan pays no mind to Gavin’s yelp as he dunks Gavin under the water with him again, bringing them up for a split second only to press his cold nose to Gavin’s collarbone. Hides a small grin and tightens his grip as smaller hands scrabble to move away from him, to no avail. “You take the consequence, Gavvy, or else!”

 

The need for revenge is fast replaced with a joyful childishness as Gavin manages to pull away, free hands instantly dipping in the water to splash Ryan. He’s pouting the entire time, but he’s content to bat water and block against Ryan’s retaliations, sitting on Ryan’s lap still.

 

Ryan’s smile doesn’t drop the whole time. Even when he’s had enough saltwater getting into his eyes, he just reaches for Gavin’s wrists to hold onto them gently; he leaves a trail of kisses on Gavin’s palms, before he twines their hands together. Fingers interlock over fingers, the hold reassuring and warm amidst the chill.

 

Blue eyes meet green ones, and Ryan swears that it knocks his breath away. Bright and sparkling, under the sun, it turns into priceless, peridot beauties; no jewelry store in Los Santos could Ryan ever rob to find anything to match Gavin’s eyes. Not when said gems radiate so much affection for Ryan, a fondness that’s only rivalled by Ryan’s own for his boyfriend.

 

Ryan is sure he’s getting lost in Gavin’s eyes, a cheesy joke about needing a map lingering on his tongue; who cares if it feels like one of those cliche movies that he’s used to make fun of before meeting Gavin. His heart is faster than the speed of light, and he wonders if Gavin can hear how loud it’s beating just for him.

 

With the little distance between them, slowly waning as they stay in their positions, Ryan’s eyes roam everywhere it can on Gavin’s features — the messy hair, defined nose, and faint tufts of a slowly-growing beard. Even the the little nicks from the most recent shaving session are met with a sense of endearment. His heart aches at how much he adores every detail of Gavin’s.

 

Then his gaze trails over to Gavin’s lips, soft-looking and pink and eye catching as sunshine hits the lingering water drops just perfectly. Ryan can’t resist the urge to bring a hand up and settle his thumb gently against Gavin’s lower lip, a strong chanting of want want want echoing in his head. His stomach is a twisted flurry of butterflies waiting for an escape, for Ryan to make a move he’s been aching for a while but could never place.

 

Until now.

 

“Gavin…” Ryan whispers. Low and quiet, his chest rumbling with the words as affection swells up in his chest. His hand drifts to cup Gavin’s cheek, and his brows furrow as he darts up to make eye contact with Gavin again, watches how his lover’s head tilts just the slightest bit in pure curiosity. No judgement, no teasing lilt, no nothing.

 

This is Ryan’s moment.

 

“Gavin,” Ryan repeats. “Can...can I kiss you? Please?”

 

To his own ears, he sounds meek and small. In a way, it’s not wrong – not when this relationship with Gavin, albeit being the best damn thing in his life so far, is still wholly new to him. Months of courtship, of dating, of just learning to be comfortable doesn’t erase his inexperience with this whole thing he’s got going on, doesn’t erase how there’s so much he doesn’t know.

 

Being a criminal makes him a wanted man to the police but not to anybody else. And he would’ve lived that life until his untimely death without regrets, even if his loneliness caught up with him eventually, because crime is a love of its own.

 

Not until that fateful bank heist, the momentary locking gazes, and impulsive actions on both their sides. An eventual spiral into what they have now.

 

“Lovely Ryan,” Gavin crows so sweetly, the best sort of distraction from Ryan’s rambling thoughts. “‘Course you can kiss me.”

 

And on God, Ryan does.

 

The first sensation Ryan registers is the briney taste of the ocean, sharp and strong on his tongue. The second is how warm Gavin’s lips are, how Ryan can feel a fire being stoked from their meeting lips and running through his body. How Ryan is properly vindicated when he realizes Gavin’s lips feel as soft as they look, Ryan’s hands feeling at home on Gavin’s skin.

 

The kiss is pliant and slow and chaste, Gavin so willing to let Ryan take the lead. Ryan thinks this might be the closest thing he’ll ever get to being in heaven, but he wonders if the actual heaven could ever be as good as this.

 

Ryan’s eyes are half-lidded when he finally pulls away from Gavin, foreheads leaning against each other’s and their nosetips grazing just barely. Ryan can’t help feeling overwhelmed as Gavin lets out little bursts of giggles that accompany innocent eskimo kisses.

 

“I think it’s cute seeing you like this, Ry,” Gavin smiles. He’s breathless and in awe, and Ryan is weak for it. “I like that you’re more comfortable with me, but seeing you still get flustered at times...it reminds me when we just started to go on dates. I never stood a chance against not liking you, lovely Ryan.” Gavin’s eyes never strays away from Ryan’s as he cuddles up, lips pulled up into a soft curve of a smile.

 

“This was a good idea. One of the best dates we’ve had so far, with us kissing and beating the heat too,” Gavin teases. Still soft, still admiring. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

 

Ryan can’t answer, throat lodged with his heart and his chest overflowing with emotions he’s never felt. He doesn’t know how to voice anything that Gavin is expecting of him, that he’s expecting of himself either.

 

So, he settles for the only thing that he knows he can say. That’s been running through his mind since their moment just minutes ago.

 

“Gavin, please. I want to kiss you, can I kiss you? Again?” Ryan pleads wantingly. His cheeks are still pebbled with pinks and reds as they share the same space, and Ryan swears he can feel Gavin’s warm breath hit his skin in puffs. His hands clench and unclench, a trembling need existing in them. “Please.”

 

Gavin’s lips are curled up into a giddy grin, lopsided and crooked and so heartwarmingly genuine. His grip tightens around Ryan’s water-soaked shoulders. “If you think you can get away with only giving me one kiss, Ry, then you’re an absolute lunatic. Of course you can kiss me again, just keep kissin’ me!”

 

And Ryan – well, what else can he do besides dive in for another kiss he so badly wanted?

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hi, im here again!! i have more plans for this series, but i'm always in need of ideas!! if you have any possible reqs, let me hear em and i might write it; im also into a variety of ships (mostly gavin centric oops) so thats a possibility too :')!
> 
> anyway catch me on tumblr or twitter under seitjun !


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